The invention relates to a test bench for a radial bearing. The invention also relates to a method of establishing a behavior relationship for a radial bearing.
The person skilled in the art encounters difficulties in measuring the forces to which radial bearings are subjected, particularly when the radial bearings are mounted in very rigid manner. Measuring forces within a radial bearing makes it possible to monitor variation in the bearing, and specifically its wear.
When the bearing is mounted without great rigidity, various known solutions are available to the person skilled in the art, such as for example using strain gauges.
In contrast, the person skilled in the art does not have solutions for evaluating forces within a radial bearing that is mounted without clearance, and with very great rigidity. Specifically, strain gauges operate correctly only when they are subjected to deformations that are relatively large, and they are unsuitable for measuring forces on bearings that are to be mounted in a relatively rigid manner.
It is also known to use temperature sensors mounted on the outer cages for the rolling members that constitute a bearing. Such temperature sensors make it possible to calculate the resultant of the forces on the bearing as a function of the measured temperature rise. Specifically, the mechanical work performed by the forces that act on the bearing is dissipated from the bearing in the form of heat energy. It is then theoretically possible, on the basis of the measured dissipated heat energy, to calculate the resultant of the forces acting inside the bearing. Nevertheless, that calculation does not enable forces to be measured accurately in real time, nor does it enable the forces on the bearing to be measured directly.